Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)

The Peter McVerry Trust almost went bankrupt in the summer of 2023. The core issue was the use of capital funding to cross-subsidise the day-to-day running costs of the organisation. It ran up a liability of almost €20 million. There have been two independent regulator reports on the issues. It is totally unacceptable that the provision of homelessness services has been privatised and commercialised out. Why is 100% of the funding not given? Why is it 90%? Why is it that homelessness service providers must outbid each other? What is that about? It is the Government's responsibility to look after homeless people and provide emergency accommodation and services. Why is the Government not doing this? Why has it been turned into a commercial system where providers are pitted against each other? This was always going to happen. The question is why it was allowed to happen.

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